Decisions
by Mini Reyes
Summary: Alternate ME1 ending. Liara and Shepard have unfinished business before they reach Ilos, undealt with feelings, concerns and fears that need to be addressed if they want to find peace before their possible demise in their fight to save the Citadel. And the galaxy.


"Shepard?" Liara spoke as the door to the Captain's Cabin whooshed open. The sight that greeted her initially sparked panic, the Commander was on the floor, a foot visible from the doors opening but as she took a proper step in the full image became apparent and the panic switched to confusion. The Commander had not collapsed as Liara had first worried, but instead was lying on the ground under her desk chair. She lay half on her back and half on her left side, one leg flat on the floor and one foot planted to provide her the leverage to twist further under the chair.

"Yes?" The Commander answered.

"Shepard what _are_ you doing?" Liara asked, walking up to the Spectre's hip and stopping.

"Trying to fix my chair," With one hand Shepard held the backrest of the chair, tilting it left and right while her other hand fruitlessly twisted and pulled on the stuck bolt that was supposed to keep the chairs back still. The bolt had become wedged in sideways, preventing Shepard from tightening it to stop the wild swinging of the backrest.

Liara frowned, "Shepard, you are about to go on a suicide mission and you're worried about your chair?! You may never see or need a chair again! I hardly think this is a priority for your time!"

Shepard stopped her movements and let her head drop to the floor, tilting to look at the asari upon the distressed tones of her voice. It took her a moment to decide on what she wanted to say; _I know, but I need something to distract myself from the fact that the galaxy is counting on me to save them and I honestly don't know if I can pull it off? They don't exactly train you to save the universe in Basic Training or Strategy 101? This chair has been bothering me for a week and I finally took the time to see what was wrong with it and now I have to finish the task? I just need another minute?_

Shepard pushed the chair aside and sat up as her thoughts continued, her arms resting on her knees, "The chair is meaningless, it's the action that speaks volumes," Liara looked at her quizzically, she did not see the significance in the action of maintaining her chairs functionality in this instance, and knelt down beside Shepard, waiting for her to elaborate, "Liara I'm afraid. What if we can't do this? What if we fail? If _I _fail? What happens if the Reapers-"

Now she understood. It was nerves, "Shhh…" Liara slid her hand across Shepard's cheek, drawing her into a gentle kiss to calm her, "What will happen will happen, for the time being the only certainty we have is what we choose to do right now in this very moment," Taking the Commander's face between her two hands she again kissed the human woman of her desires, giving into her feelings and letting her actions tell the Commander she was ready for this.

Shepard, though ecstatic that Liara had come to her, had to make sure Liara was sure this was what she wanted, this was her first time and she didn't want to hurt Liara if she didn't make it through the day, "Liara," Shepard pulled back a few inches, keeping a gentle hand under the asari's chin, "Are you sure you want to tie yourself to a woman who may be dead tomorrow?"  
Though the question came out negatively, the Commander herself was steadily building up a resolve that Liara was right, whatever was going to happen would play out, she would fail or succeed but the only thing that mattered was that she try.

Liara noticed the way in which Shepard spoke of herself in the third person, as if preparing to distance herself from her feelings should she be rejected. But Liara had already spent days questioning herself, her motives and her feelings for this woman who had pulled her from a Prothean stasis and into a world of life-endangering adventure, "I may not have had the courage to come to you without this Reaper threat, my social skills are somewhat lacking since I have spent the last fifty years or so on my own at Prothean dig sites or completing studies. I am not very well equipped for social subtleties nor do I fully understand the way in which you human joke and have two meanings for a single sentence. Never before have I tried to capture someone's attention or desired…" Liara paused when she noticed the Commander's growing smile, her head tilted slightly to the left as she often did when she was intrigued by something. She realised she was rambling and cut right to the point, "Yes. I want this Shepard, and I think the threat of the galaxies possibly imminent demise has forced me to confront my feelings about you and critically analyse what it is that I really want from my time here."

Shepard's hand had dropped down to Liara's, standing up she helped the asari to her feet and moved closer with an arm around the Liara's waist, "Okay."

Liara thought the single word reply was somehow the most perfect answer to her rather side-tracked response, for Shepard, it was all she could think of to summarize a reply, give her verbal affirmation that this was what she wanted too, and get to the part where she could kiss Liara.

They joined in a kiss, Shepard's other arm sliding up Liara's back, fingers splayed between the asari's shoulder blades, Liara's hands moving to the Commander's soft cheeks, then one hand moving over her shoulder and down her back while the other slid into Shepard's hair. Secretly, Liara had been curios about the texture of the human's hair for quite some time now and she was excited to finally know just soft it was. All the while Shepard's lips caressed hers, gently pressing or pulling on hers, emphasizing the depths of her feelings for her crew member and partner. Then Shepard took one step further, unzipping her casual Alliance Military uniform shirt and extending the invitation for its removal. It was overwhelming in the best possible way.

Before the Commander could completely forget the mission that lay ahead, one last thought on the matter passed through; _Fuck it. If we're all going to die, I'm going to die with no regrets and go down fighting._

_Shepard would enjoy this brief time she had with Liara before taking upon the entire galaxies problems upon her shoulders. If she was going to live, she'd live, and if she was going to die, then she was going to die having shown Liara how much she cared for her. _


End file.
